Biologists conducting studies on Oak Grove Lake in South Carolina discovered a 9-pound goldfish that had been residing in the lake for an unknown period.
“Anyone missing their goldfish?” the Greenville Recreation Center asked Monday on Facebook.
The goldfish, perhaps formerly a much smaller aquarium fish, rose to the surface during an electroshocking study conducted to determine the health of the 12-acre fishery.
The 15-inch goldfish stood out glaringly compared to other fish that were briefly stunned to be counted as part of the study. (Goldfish typically can fit in a glass bowl, but they can grow to large sizes in the wild.)
The electroshocking was conducted in mid-November and Greenville Parks, Recreation & Tourism released the photo Monday.
Houck told NBC that although goldfish are not native to South Carolina waters, they’re not considered invasive and the goldfish was allowed to swim free.
Houck is quoted by CNN: “We think someone must have just dropped their fish in the lake because they didn’t want it anymore, instead of flushing it down the toilet.”
Reads one of several comments on the Greenville Recreation post:
“That is probably my old gold fish. I had to move and when packing him up my brother broke the container. I had no other choice but to release him and hope for the best. Its name was Lucky. This was 11 years ago. I was so sad. I truly hope that this was my fish because that means he lived and had a good life.”
–Image courtesy of Greenville Parks, Recreation & Tourism